HMC Physics Colloquium

Tuesdays at 16:30 in Shanahan Center for Teaching and Learning, Room B460

Dan Steck

University of Oregon

Continuous Measurement of the Position of a Single Cold Atom: Towards the Quantum-Classical Transition

Nov. 19, 2013

Quantum mechanics is fundamentally a theory of measurement, and recently a paradigm in quantum optics has arisen for describing the continuous measurement of quantum systems. Interesting phenomena can happen in continuously observed systems, due to the interplay of the dynamical evolution and the measurement process. In particular, the evolution of a quantum system under a continuous measurement process is both nonlinear and stochastic. I will describe our interests in continuous measurements of atomic motion, especially in applying them in understanding the quantum–classical transition for classically chaotic systems. I will also describe our experimental progress towards studying these systems.